Although a hedgehog won the Sue Ryder Mascot Gold Cup by a short spike, Worth Valley YFC's Dave Johnson took away the honours as the best mascot made on the chosen race theme, From Small Stalls Grow
Big Stores, with Pete the Marsh Top Meat Pork Chop.

Eddie the Edgehog, of Aldley Edge Hockey Club, in Cheshire, out-sprinedt a
Zebra and 55 other
cuddly characters in the Mascot Gold Cup at Wetherby Races family day sponsored by the National Market Traders Federation which
raised approximately £15,000 for charity including event organisers,
national healthcare charity Sue Ryder.

Zack the Zebra, of road safety charity BRAKE, also shone
in the Wetherby sun and it took an official photo finish to prove that
Eddie had indeed won. Sheffield Wednesday’s Ozzie the
Owl was third and also took the prize for being the first professional
mascot home. The prize for being last home without stopping went to Sue
the Sausage representing Sue Ryder retail.

Dave Johnson and his chop went on to run in the
inaugural Scottish Mascot Gold Cup at Musselbrough on 24 April.

Sue Ryder fundraiser Andrew Wood
said: "Mascots have now raised over £85,000 in the six years that the
race has been run and we are very lucky that the majority of this has
come to Sue Ryder to help us to fund our crucial care in hospices and
neurological care centres throughout the country. We need to raise over
£4million each year just to provide our services in Yorkshire alone so
events such as this which raise both funds and our profile are very
important to us. A huge thank you is due to the team at Wetherby
Racecourse and Conference Centre, all the mascots, our sponsors and
everyone who volunteers their time for this event.”

A DVD of the event is in production and will be sent to mascots that
supported Sue Ryder. Other copies are available for £6.
For more information or to register an interest for the 2012 Mascot Gold
Cup contact Andrew Wood on 01535 640432 or email
Andrew.Wood@suerydercare.org.

The big guns are travelling to Blackpool to help YFC members promote
British agriculture.

Sainsbury’s Annie Graham, Natural England’s Poul Christensen and
President of the WI Ruth Bond are amongst the lead speakers at the National Federation of Young
Farmers’ Clubs’ (NFYFC) annual agriculture and rural affairs forum.
They will be working with their discussion groups to devise ways of
taking the topic into YFC hands.

To celebrate NFYFC re-joining CEJA (European Young Farmers) and to
continue to highlight the importance of European politics, CEJA
President Joris Baecke flies over from the Netherlands to discuss
European farming and CEJA’s position on support for the next generation
of farmers in the forthcoming Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Reform.

NFYFC chairman James Chapman and former agriculture chairwoman Katherine
Sealy represented YFCs at the CEJA General Assembly in April. James
and Katherine spoke with the Agriculture Counsellor at the UK Permanent
Representation (UKREP) during their visit to Brussels and will encourage
fellow YFC members to take an active part in CEJA.

“NFYFC represents 23,000 young people who have an interest in
agriculture and the countryside. We want to make sure that we play our
part in promoting our industry and are delighted to have such
high-calibre speakers to spark debate and launch new challenges for YFC
members. The feedback from the discussion groups will be used
constructively, not only to shape future work of the national
agriculture committee, but also to inform policy makers and industry
organisations of our members’ concerns,” said Milly Wastie, chairwoman
of the forum.

The British Wool Marketing Board (BWMB), in conjunction with NFYFC, will
be using the forum to launch a new competition for YFC members to help
promote British Wool Week.

A host of industry exhibitors will be joining the forum including the
British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS), Lantra, NFU, Natural England,
WI, DairyCo, CEJA, Sainsbury’s, Campaign for the Farmed Environment,
NatWest and the British Wool Marketing Board.

The forum is being held in the Spanish Hall, Winter Gardens, Blackpool
on Saturday 7 May at 11am and is sponsored by Defra and HOPS Labour
Solutions. It is part of the activities at the NFYFC annual convention,
which includes NFYFC competition finals, celebration of the year’s
achievements, and the annual general meeting.

Join NFYFC's visit to George Freeman MP and the National Farmers’ Union (NFU)
Government and Parliamentary Affairs Office, in Westminster on Wednesday 18 May.

This year's second Agriculture & Rural Affairs Link Day is open to all YFC members free of charge and YFC members have been invited to meet George Freeman MP to discuss
issues and concerns you are passionate about.

There's also the chance to attend a
Parliamentary workshop on the legislation process followed by a visit to the NFU Government and Parliamentary Affairs Office.
Based in Westminster, the team will explain the role of the NFU in
London and the work carried out in the Parliamentary office.

Places for this visit will be allocated on a
first-come, first-served basis and you will need to make your own way to
Portcullis House, Bridge St, London SW1A 2LW (next to Westminster tube)
and the NFU, Kings Buildings, 16 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JJ. (Under
18’s will need to provide NFYFC with a parental consent form.)

If you are travelling to Blackpool for the annual convention and AGM, there's a chance to enjoy some of the great attractions the town has to offer via special offers from the town. Check out the annual convention pages for more information about what's on.